Creation date later than modified date

In Word XP the creation date of a document can be later than the modified date when saved elsewhere. Microsoft say

“When the document is copied or is saved to a new location, a new file is created. This file is generated by a parent file that has the earlier “Modified” date. This parent file also has an earlier “Created” date.

When you copy or re-save a document, the “Created” date is updated in the Statistics tab and in the General tab. However, the “Modified” date is not updated.”

Does anyone know of a way of finding the original ‘Creation’ date? We are dealing with some old documents where the original pc is long gone